Video: Brakeless In Virgin with Cody Gessel

 Good way to get people to watch it... some sick poaches too

 It must be a bit of a slap to the face when you put out a sweet video like this and get 80 people bitching about the title for basically no reason.

 The reason is - watching jumps that big and knowing he has no brakes gives me a pit in my stomach. So much rad.

 He's keeping old school style alive with his bag of tricks.

 Cody has that Clint Reynolds, Tommy D or Chase Hawk inspired pure steeze. No flip do da bull shit. He probably rides brakeless because everyone on a 20 these days rides brakeless.

 I think MacDuff summed it up years ago when he explained that brakeless wasn't about being able to spin the bars easily so much as it is a way of forcing commitment and learning the proper speed.

 @robwhynot: That, as well as brakeless is great for your skills and makes you a much cleaner and smoother rider. Mainly with balance tricks such as manuals, where you're forced to do it properly instead of cheat and use your brake, making you lose speed, flow, and making your riding look ugly.

But at the same time it also pushes you stop doubting and hit everything first try. When I rode dirts / trails with a brake I used to only jump the first gap, then only the first two, then only the first three, etc.
With brakeless I just went for it and cleared the full line first try. Also with dirt / trails you learn that if you hang up on the landing or overshoot the landing, you have no other option than to start pedaling as hard as you can to regain your speed for the next jump. Where as people who ride with a brake usually stop as soon as they have a hang up somewhere.

Not saying that everyone should ride brakeless, in 95% of the cases it doesn't make sense and it's just stupidity. For example all those BMX kids who can't even pull a manual or ride dirts / trails normally, but they ride brakeless because it's YOLO. Please stop riding brakeless if you're not ready for it yet skills-wise!

 @bmxrace121: old school? bmx bikes had front and rear brakes back when i was riding and racing(mirra's golden boy years)

its the new school guys that are all brakeless.

 @Mattin: Amen!

 You ride brakeless for the simplicity and to have less of a part to break, not because you want to hit something that youd normally not hit with a brake, thats just stupid.

 think of the weight savings. next winner of the TDF will be brakeless.

 Riding brakes takes way more skill and consistency then riding without them. catching barspins with a lever on your bar is hard af, and it makes you do tire grabs tuck nos and stuff perfectly.

 Weight is a big one too.

 Nothing scientific here, but from my experience (I ride both BMX and MTB) .. I naturally tend to hold the inside of my grips on the BMX and the outside on my MTB. MTB bars tend to run wide (mine are narrow compared to norm) which i think is why i go for the wider grip. On the other hand, the trend in BMX is to run wiiiiiide bars and hold them close to the crossbar.. idk maybe im just rambling now

 I was going to ask the same question. It looks like cumbersome way to hold a bar to me.

 More comfort is one. Then there is higher hops and faster bars. It's a cool feeling and I always ride like that, even if it is DH.

 @FrEeZa: then why not just run slightly narrower bars?

 I have the same question after scoping many riders doing that (e.g. Semenuk @3:40: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m_VmjtuoA4)

 The real question is whats up with people holding the very outside edge of the grips/ bars.... talk about weird right? haha. I hold the inside of my grips (bmx), but my hands end up all over the bar for different stuff. Crank a turn down and your hand slips and you dont got a little room to play with, your going to have a bad time. But I think most of the time its just preference.

 @L0rdTom: It is a preference thing and an overall comfortable feeling. I like wider bars, as my shoulders are also a bit wide and my arms need that extra bit, but I still have about ~2cm free at the end of the bars, just because. But still, if I am going for a big hop/jump I am sure as hell holding on to the inside, for as MikeZinger said, once you get fully committed, you better have room for error on them grips.

 @MikeZinger: Haha ok. Good points. The logic about holding the outside of the grips is to use the full width of the bar I think, along with personal preference. Theoretically a wider bar should let me be a bit more stable at higher speeds, as you can adjust your steering in smaller increments (oppositely- imagine riding downhill with tiny handlebars like a razor scooter, a tiny change in steering leads to the wheel turning quite a lot). Anyways hope that made sense, shred on.

 I keep my hands on the outside for the stability, as well as making it easier to slip the outside of my palm over the end of the bars in corners to help get my weight on the outside hand, which keeps that front wheel planted. Also makes getting that hip twist a little easier, furthering traction.

 Why not just move your grips further inside? That way you got the full grip, room for error, and are not holding half the grip. I guess DH is different then BMX due to longer travel in forks and easier on gripping the bar. Still some slick riding.

 Im also holdin hands on middle of grip on DH bike, but while riding DJ i want to feel that grip flange next to thumb. While cruising, quite often even holding bars on top of flanges..

 Cody is pretty much the Dugan of mtb. Super sick rider!

 @Mattin: he boosts like dugan

 WTF is wrong with Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats? I was stoked to hear them in this. Thought it fit perfectly.

 Is there an edit of Tom Dugan where that song was used?

 @Metacomet: absolutely nothing! i love uncle acid! was suggestion. all good cuz its all sabbath influenced any way!

 My gf wears the same. maybe shell do a user review soon...whatever keeps em comfortable down there

 Could only prop you up once. Trey Jones is a friggin' beast on a bike and is the ultimate bad ass if there ever was one. And he rides old slip ons and sockless

 give it a brake

 Mat as in Matt MacDuff? Just wait for Pure Darkness 3...

 @molloser: and the loop crash too tho

 That's the first bit of slo-mo that I've actually enjoyed in a mtb video. Really let's you grasp the amplitude of the trick.

 Yo soy 100% Tecate roja aca. En Mexico ni la tomaba pero por 3 dolares nada le gana jajaja

 Beer snobs are like pizza snobs. Just knock it off, nobody's impressed by your refined craftbrew and cornbread crust tastes - step up and power mass quantities like a North American. Viva Tecate Cryptkeeper, brochacho.

 @endlessblockades: hahaha... you're right!!! As long as it tastes like beer. Borracho!!! hahaha

The sad thing is I'm not a beer refined human being!!! I just drink Corona because of the ads!!!

 @smoranc: Simon, bro-chacho!